I am a newlywed on a budget, just trying to make healthy and inexpensive meals for my husband and I to enjoy. He eats a lot, so cost is a big factor. Though I work 3 jobs, I manage to find time 6 nights a week to cook a full dinner for us both. I am constantly looking for new recipes that are moderately healthy, taste great, and won't break the bank.

On the side, I also own a brownie business called Gersheybars. My passion and love for cooking started when I was just a small child, baking with my mom and grandmother. The brownie recipe has been passed down through 5 generations and I am thrilled to finally have an outlet to share them with everybody else. Friends and family have helped spread the word and made my business as successful as it is today.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

I got this idea from one of our favorite dishes at the local Thai restaurant, and sort of recreated it on a whim. The coconut milk makes the sauce almost buttery and really silky smooth. Great when served over white rice or wide vermicelli noodles.

Ingredients

1-2 tsp oil

1/2 onion, cut into 1/4 inch wedges

3/4 cup light coconut milk (I used regular coconut milk, because I think the light is a bit too thin)

1/2 tsp red curry paste

1/8 tsp black pepper

2 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

4 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

2 tsp fish sauce

pinch of salt

1 red pepper (I roasted mine, or you could purchase a jar of pre-roasted peppers)

Directions

1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion until lightly brown. Add coconut milk, curry paste, black pepper and chicken. Stir together and bring to a simmer.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Super easy, but extra tasty way to make steak and onions. I like my steak on the side of rare, to medium rare, which is about 130 degrees. Flat iron steak gets tough and rubbery when overcooked, so the use of a meat thermometer may be your best bet.

The onions taste just like onion soup, but are much easier to prepare. The picture really doesn't do them justice. They come out of the oven smelling divine, with bubbling cheese and looking totally scrumptious.

SteakIngredients

1 lb flat iron steak

1 tsp old bay seasoning

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Directions1. Combine Old Bay, paprika, salt and garlic powder. Rub both sides of steak with seasoning.2. Heat large skillet over medium high heat with 1 tbsp oil. Fry steaks 2 min on each side, then reduce temperature and cook to 130 degrees (about 4-6 more minutes).

2. Remove pan from oven. Pour beef broth over onions and drizzle each slice with soy sauce. Return to oven for 60 minutes, basting every 15 minutes.3. Top with gruyere cheese and bake another 5 minutes until cheese is melted.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Halloween is probably my favorite holiday of the year. I love dressing up and especially baking festive desserts! Today, we decided to frost some cupcakes to munch on during our carving get-together tomorrow night. The cupcakes are a standard diet coke cake recipe with a triple chocolate cake mix, and the frosting is as follows:

Ingredients

4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup butter (do not substitute margarine)

2 tsp vanilla

food coloring

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until combined, then turn to high until light and fluffy. Scrape bowl often. If frosting is too thick, add milk in 1 tsp increments and beat, until desired consistency.

Monday, October 22, 2007

This is an old Cooking Light recipe that I cut out and never made until last night. So so so tasty! And easy. I love searing chicken on the stove and then oven-baking it because it keeps in all the juices.

Ingredients

1 T olive oil

1 tsp paprika

1.5 tsp Old Bay seasoning

1/2 tsp sugar

12 tsp salt

2 chicken breasts

1/2 onion, chopped

1 tsp minced garlic

1.5 cups cooked rice

1 tsp hot sauce (such as Tabasco or Franks Red Hot)

1 15.8 oz can black-eyed peas, drained

1/4 cup sliced green onions

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Heat 2 tsp of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Combine paprika, seasoning, sugar and 1/4 tsp salt; sprinkle over chicken on both sides. Add chicken to pan, cooking 2 minutes on each side. Wrap handle of pan with foil and place in oven. Bake at 350 for 6 minutes or until chicken is cooked.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

This is one of Justin's favorite foods, and we've been searching for a good recipe for a few years now. I once worked in a bakery that made incredible gingerbread cake around the holidays, but unfortunately, I quit before being able to swipe the recipe! Anyway, this is the best one we've tried so far. I got the recipe off AllRecipes.com but I made a few slight adjustments noted in bold.

Overall the cake is definitely spot on as far as taste goes, but I slightly overbaked mine so it's a bit drier than I'd like. Also, the recipe calls for a full cup of molasses. I'm not a fan of molasses at all, so I halved it and only used 1/2 cup. Justin had no idea until I said something after he'd tasted it. He agreed that a full cup would've been too overpowering.

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground ginger

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup dark molasses (I only used 1/2 cup and it was plenty)

1/2 cup apple juice

2 eggs

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger (We couldn't find any in the stores near us, so I omitted. It still tasted very gingery and delicious!)

3. In a large bowl, mix sugar with oil, juice, molasses, eggs, and fresh ginger in a large bowl. Mix in crystallized ginger. Stir in flour mixture. Pour into prepared pan.

4. Bake for 1 hour, or until cake tester comes out clean. Run a knife around the edge to loosen cake, and release pan sides. Serve warm. (I baked this for 60 min and it's slightly overbaked. Next time, I'd recommend 50 minutes.)

Friday, October 19, 2007

It's getting cooler at night here, and I was in the mood for something Fall-ish. I came across this recipe in a Weight Watchers cookbook and I have to say, it's good, but next time I'd definitely do some things differently.

Ingredients:

1 cup apple cider

1 firm apple, cored and cut into 8 wedges (I used Granny Smith)

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves

2 chicken breasts

Directions:

1. Line broiler rack with foil; preheat the broiler. In a medium nonstick saucepan, mix the apple cider, apple, maple syrup and thyme; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. (I would recommend mixing the cider, syrup and thyme first; boil about 5 minutes, THEN add the apple. Otherwise, the apple gets too mushy.)Cook until the apple is tender and the sauce is reduced by half (Make sure the sauce is a syrupy consistency before removing from the heat. Otherwise it won't caramalize properly when broiled on the chicken). Remove from the heat and keep warm.

2. Place the chicken on the broiler rack and brush on both sides with half of the maple mixture; broil 4 inches from the heat until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Turn and brush the top with the remaining maple mixture; broil until the chicken is cooked through, about another 4 minutes. Serve with apple wedges on the side.

I served this with white rice, cooked in chicken broth with 1 Tbsp olive oil to keep it fluffy.

The apples in my dish were good, but they got a bit mushy from cooking too long. I also cut the apple in 16 wedges, not realizing it should've been 8, so hopefully with a larger piece of apple and less cooking time, they will remain crunchy, but cooked. Overall, this was tasty, but it needed some work. I do plan to make it again with some modifications to the sauce.

While shopping this morning, I saw pears on sale for 2 pounds for 99 cents. Who can resist that bargain?! Right next to the pears were apples, 3 pounds for 99 cents. So I knew I had to combine apples and pears into something delicious, and that something delicious is Miss Penelope's Pearple Pie -- a perfect balance of sweet and tart, soft and crunchy. Bartlett Pears, Granny Smith apples and Jonagold apples. Topped with a sweet brown sugar streusel, this pie is perfect for Fall.CrustIngredients

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shortening, chilled

3 tablespoons ice water

Directions

1. In medium size bowl, mix flour and salt together. Using a pastry blender, or paddle attachment on a mixer, cut in the cold shortening, until mixture is coarse and crumbly. Slowly drizzle 2 or 3 tablespoons of ice water into the mixture. Combine until evenly mixed and dough comes together. Don't be afraid to add a few more drops of ice water, if the dough still hasn't come together after 3 tablespoons.

2. Gently combine dough pieces into a ball. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

3. Roll dough in between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. This will make it easier to put in the pie plate. Gently place dough on top of pie plate and set into place. Trim excess dough.

1. Place cut up fruit in bowl. Combine with sugar and cornstarch. Let sit 5 min before filling pie.

Streusel ToppingIngredients

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

6 tablespoons butter, melted but not hot

Directions

1. Thoroughly mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. Press mixture together and set aside. Fluff with fork to make small crumbles before gently patting pieces on top of pie.

Pie Assembly

Pour apple/pear mixture into prepared (unbaked) pie crust. Make sure to overfill the crust, as the fruit will settle during baking. Top with streusel and bake uncovered at 425 for 35 minutes. Cover pie and bake another 10-15 minutes, until fruit is tender when pierced with a knife. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

I had a bunch of leftover fresh spinach from dinner the other night and wanted to find a good pasta recipe to use it up in. This recipe comes from the same Weight Watchers cookbook, "Cook it Quick." I love how simple and fast these recipes are, and most use regular ingredients that I already have in the kitchen.

This dish is saucy and cheesy and just really hearty. Took about 20 minutes to prepare, so on a late work night like yesterday, it's a great dish to prepare. This recipe uses ricotta cheese, which is a great alternative to high fat heavy cream. You really can't taste the difference and it's much better for you.

Ingredients

6 ounces fettucine

2 tsp olive oil

3 shallots, chopped (I used 1/8 white onion instead of shallots)

1 garlic clove, minced

2 cups chopped fresh spinach

1 cup canned crushed tomatoes (I used the Italian spiced ones for added flavor. I ended u putting the whole 15 ounce can in, as we like saucy-ness! Drain the tomatoes though to avoid a runny sauce)

1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese, pureed

1/4 tsp ground pepper

Directions

1. Cook the fettuccine according to package directions. Drain, and keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a nonstick saucepan, then add shallots. Saute until softened, then add garlic and cook until fragrant. Stir in the spinach and tomatoes and cook until spinach wilts.

3. Add ricotta to sauce and mix thoroughly. Add fettuccine to spinach and cheese mixture and toss to evenly coat. If sauce is too thick, add 1-2 Tbsp hot water and stir. Sprinkle with pepper and serve.

1. Cook the tortellini according to package directions, until just tender (do not overcook).

2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, bring the broth, garlic and rosemary to a boil. Stir in the spinach, beans and tomatoes. Reduce the heat and simmer until the spinach and tomatoes are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tortellini; simmer 1 minute longer. Sprinkle with the cheese, and serve.